Amnesty International stated that apart from the charge of firing at security forces on 8 July 2012, the other charges, of disobeying the ruler, inciting sectarian strife and encouraging, leading and participating in demonstrations were based on documentary evidence of al-Nimrs sermons and interviews. Amnesty viewed these as representing the right to free speech and that al-Nimr did not incite violence in these. Amnesty stated that witnesses whose testimonies were used during the trial did not testify in court and that al-Nimrs lawyer was not given a fair possibility to defend him.[19] The European Saudi Society for Human Rights (ESSHR) reported details of five of al-Nimrs court appearances following the 8 July 2012 arrest. According to the ESSHR, 33 charges were laid in the first appearance, on 25 March 2013. On the 29 April 2013 court appearance, the defence was unable to respond to the charges because it did not have the details of the list of charges. On 23 December 2013, al-Nimrs lawyer said that al-Nmir was unable to respond to the charges because he did not have a pen and paper. Al-Nimrs lawyer was informed one day before the fourth appearance, on 15 April 2014. The ESSHR stated that neither al-Nimrs lawyer nor his family were informed prior to the fifth court session, on 22 April 2014.[24] October 2014 death sentence[edit] On 15 October 2014, al-Nimr was sentenced to death by the Specialized Criminal Court for seeking foreign meddling in [Saudi Arabia], disobeying its rulers and taking up arms against the security forces.[18] Said Boumedouha of Amnesty International stated that the death sentence was part of a campaign by the authorities in Saudi Arabia to crush all dissent, including those defending the rights of the Kingdoms Shia Muslim community.[19] Nimr al-Nimrs brother, Mohammad al-Nimr, tweeted information about the death sentence[18] and was arrested on the same day.[19] The head of Iran’s armed forces warned Saudi Arabia that it would “pay dearly” if it carried out the ex
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 17:34:38 +0000
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